


Overdue Meetings

by wyse_ink



Series: Changing Tides [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Growing Up, Insecurity, Male-Female Friendship, Nostalgia, Romance, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 03:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4861241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyse_ink/pseuds/wyse_ink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nagisa skips a meeting, Gou and Rei are left alone. </p><p>Set in their third year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overdue Meetings

     When Gou stepped off the train, she was greeted by a downpour. Raising her schoolbag over her head, she ran across the sidewalk, feet splashing in the puddles already beginning to form, and took cover under the station’s awning. Of course it would rain on the one day she’d left her umbrella at home, she thought, glancing at her watch. She needed to get going if she were going to be on time for the meeting. She watched people file into the train she’d just exited and the doors close behind them. No turning back now. She sighed and headed out into the rain.

     The walk to Rei’s house seemed to take longer than usual. Normally, the time would’ve passed easily by Nagisa’s constant chattering, but still, there was no sign of him. She didn’t dare take her phone out of her bag in this weather for fear of ruining it. Surely, he’d sent either her or Rei a message by now. Her shoes squeaked as she half-walked, half-ran the rest of the distance. By the time she finally reached his doorstep and rang the doorbell, she was completely and thoroughly soaked.

     The door opened to reveal the newly-appointed captain, whose violet eyes widened at the sight of her.

     “Gou-san, what…” he began, but she shook her head, smiling awkwardly and tucking a drenched strand of hair behind her ear.

     “I forgot my umbrella,” she explained, though she knew it was stating the obvious. She set her shoes aside and stepped into the warm, dry house. Now that she was inside, she felt slightly embarrassed at how she must look. Everything here was always so tidy, and it made her feel even more like a mess. Even Rei, who was clad only in track pants and a hoodie, still somehow looked perfectly put together.

     “Let me get you a towel,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. He turned quickly and disappeared into another room. Gou took the opportunity to check her phone. There was still no message from Nagisa. She frowned, wondering if he’d forgotten about the meeting. It had been a little impromptu, for they almost never held meetings on their day off and had only decided on this one over the phone the night before. Still, she’d thought it urgent that they go over some new training mechanisms before running them by the new members, and the other two had agreed.

    _He’s probably just late_ , she thought. He was always at least a few minutes late to practice after all. Still, she wondered why it was bothering her so much. She wasn’t worried about him. In fact, he’d probably just overslept since they didn’t have classes. She and Rei could handle everything that needed to be worked out, then run it by him later when he finally showed up. A strange realization began creeping into her mind. She’d never been around Rei without at least one of the others there before.

     Rei returned then, with a fluffy towel and a burgundy sweatshirt perfectly folded in his arms. “Here,” he said kindly. “You don’t want to catch a cold.” She took the bundle in her arms, thanked him, and went to change.

***

     She was being silly, she thought as she slipped the warm sweatshirt over her head. Rei was her friend, and it wouldn’t be any different than hanging out with any of the others. In fact, in some ways, it might even be more relaxing. She smiled slightly as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Even though she’d combed it out, her hair looked matted after her brief towel-drying session and the sweatshirt Rei had loaned her was much too big. She looked ridiculous. Wondering what his reaction would be to such an un-beautiful sight – and wondering even more why she cared in the first place - she stepped out of the bathroom and started down the hall toward the living room. Rei was still sitting crisscross on the floor, reading what she assumed was his new training regimen.

     “Nagisa-kun still hasn’t made it?” she asked, taking a seat catty-corner from him. He shook his head.

     “He sent a message saying he was on his way, but that was forty minutes ago. Honestly...” he paused, just long enough for Gou to see the small smile that played at the edge of his lips. “If he didn’t want to come to the meeting, he could’ve just said so.”

     He set the training regimen down in front of him and turned it so they could both see the contents clearly. She began to read. The regimen was organized and easy-to-follow. Above all else, she could see that he’d been as meticulous as ever. Even his penmanship was tidy, making the regimen look like something he’d scanned from a book instead of a hand-written page. “I’ve made a few changes to the threshold and overload endurance sessions that I think will be beneficial. If we combine them with some of Rin-senpai’s recommendations, we can maximize training efficiency for each member.”

     Gou’s mind drifted as he continued explaining the theories behind each change and how it could better utilize each member’s abilities. It wasn’t that she was bored by his explanations. In fact, she was usually impressed by the extent of his knowledge and his enthusiasm in discussing it, but for some reason, she couldn’t focus. She sneaked a side glance at him. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but somehow, he looked different than he had when he’d first joined the club two years ago. Maybe it was just because he was stronger from all of the swimming, or maybe he was just more confident. He certainly was the latter, she thought. Ever since he’d learned all of the strokes and worked to hone them, she’d seen his confidence grow. It was a different kind of confidence than what he’d gained by just joining the club and becoming friends with the others. This was something much more personal, and it seemed to radiate off of him like light from the sun.

     Her thoughts were interrupted as he reached across and pointed to another section of the regimen. The muscles in his forearms tensed and flexed with even such a simple motion. Gou quickly focused her attention back to the page, suppressing the sudden flush of heat that was rushing to her cheeks. It was a habit that had grown annoying to her lately. She knew it was no secret that she held a love for muscles, nor did she care if it was. It was one thing at the pool, where the swim club members showed off their toned, gleaming bodies regularly. Here, though, sitting in a room alone with Rei made it seem inappropriate somehow. She nonchalantly brought a hand to her face. Her palm burned at the touch, and she realized she’d failed to conceal her blush. As the soft fabric of the sweatshirt sleeve slid down to her elbow, her face grew hotter.

     “Gou-san, are you all right?” he asked, breaking her train of thought again. Her mind raced. How long had she been sitting there like an idiot? How long ago had he stopped talking?

     “I’m fine,” she said quickly, her voice sounding higher than she’d meant it. “I’m just tired today. I guess I stayed up too late studying.”

     He smiled like he understood. “To think that this is our last year…” his voice trailed off, as if he was lost in his own memories. “Now I understand how Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai felt.” The mention of their names struck a chord in her. The two handsome, older boys she’d grown up with were now men. Like Rin, they’d gone their separate ways. Even though each had promised to visit everyone when they came home, she felt like they were more than just a flight or ocean away. It felt like they’d gone to another planet and left her, Rei, and Nagisa here. She wondered where the past few years had gone. Thankful for having something to focus on and slightly nostalgic, she turned back to Rei.

     “Have you thought about who you’ll name captain for next year?” she asked.

     “Well, it’s still early in the season,” he replied. “All of our new members are working hard and they have a lot of potential.” He brought his hand to his hand up to his chin. “Nakajima, Miura, and Takeuchi are probably the most obvious candidates, though Wada-kun may have the best disposition for the job.” He sighed. “Of course, I won’t make that decision without consulting you and Nagisa-kun first.”

     “We’ll help as much as we can,” she told him. “It won’t be an easy decision. I don’t envy you.” To her surprise, his shoulders drooped slightly. She waited as he was quiet for a moment.

     “I don’t know how Makoto-senpai did it,” he told her. “Sometimes, I wonder if I was really the best choice to be the club’s captain.” She softened her gaze, allowing a small, sad smile to cross her face. Though his confidence had grown considerably in the past few years, there were times when she saw it dwindle. Even if it was only temporary, all of his doubts seemed to be centered around one thing - his being captain.

     It made sense, she thought, that he would have this concern. Between himself and Nagisa, Nagisa was the far more experienced swimmer of the two. He had more experience being in swim clubs than Rei had ever had. But even Gou knew those things didn’t matter. She sighed softly.

     “Rei-kun, why do you think you were chosen as captain?” Her question seemed to catch him off-guard. He looked a bit baffled as he met her gaze.

     “There was nobody besides Nagisa-kun and I to choose from,” he told her. “You were already the manager.”

     “But what did Makoto-senpai say after he told you?”

     Rei thought for a moment. “He said that he knew I could do it.”

     “What else?”

     “That ‘anybody who worked that hard and was that dedicated would always make the best captain’.” He chuckled. “It’s a beautiful speech, but I think anyone would’ve done that much for teammates like you guys. It’s nothing Makoto-senpai or any of you wouldn’t have done.”

     Typical Rei, she thought. He didn’t even realize the extent of all he’d done in the eyes of his teammates and friends. To him, it was just natural to go above and beyond for others, no matter how difficult it was for him or without even realizing how rare of a quality that was. She pressed further. “And what did Haruka-senpai tell you?”

     “He said I was ‘free.’” Rei paused and adjusted his glasses. “I never did figure out what he meant by that. It seemed like he meant something different every time.”

     “Haruka-senpai has an odd way of putting things,” she said. Rei nodded once in agreement. “I think what he meant that time is that you are your own person.” She waved her arm outward, the excess material of his sweatshirt flapping against her arm. “‘Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.’”

     “You sound more like Amakata-sensei than Haruka-senpai,” he said. “Though, I don’t recall Sensei quoting Bruce Lee.”

     “The point is,” Gou continued, interrupting him. “Don’t start comparing yourself to everyone else. We all trusted you to be captain, and you’ve proven our trust was well-placed.” A faint blush appeared on Rei’s cheeks and he pushed up his glasses again.

     “I’ll do everything I can to keep proving it,” he promised. Silence fell over the room again with the exception of the rain hitting the windows. The rain fell more softly now and thunder rumbled in the distance. Gou felt her eyelids growing heavy. It was cozy here, she thought, and he was good company. A small part of her wondered if maybe, just maybe, this meeting had been long overdue.

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely inspired by their adorable exchange in Eternal Summer and the mention that Nagisa tends to skip practice sometimes. Also posted on http://forevarfree.tumblr.com/post/129750238076/overdue-meetings-wyseink-free-archive-of


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